Climate change becomes top concern for most Californians: survey
From historic storms and snowpacks to prolonged drought and wildfires, the extreme-weather events California had experienced led most of its residents to say climate change is their top concern, a new survey found, Azernews reports, citing Xinhua.
The survey, titled "Californians and the Environment," was conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California on June 7-29 to find out what Californians think about climate change and climate policies amid changing economic and environmental conditions.
An overwhelming majority, or 77 percent of the adults, said climate change had contributed to the states' recent extreme weather events, and 45 percent of them had been personally affected by those events in the past two years, according to the survey released on Thursday.
California has set the greenhouse gas emission goal of 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 and planned to reach net zero emissions in the state no later than 2045.
The survey also confirmed a partisan divide between vehicle-related environmental goals and officials' handling of environmental issues.
For example, nearly 80 percent of Democrats favored the goal of two-thirds of vehicles sold in the United States being electric by 2032, but more than 80 percent of Republicans opposed it.
As to the state's climate legislature, 74 percent of Democrats are in favor, while the approval rate from Republicans is only 16 percent.
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